Where in the World – Winners and Celebrations

Wow, it was a very special birthday indeed. Okay, I know some of you are waiting for the giveaway winners, so we will start off with that. Our old and new home is …

The picture in the giveaway is from the top of Diamond Peak ski resort, overlooking the lake on the North Shore. I really expected more people to guess Lake Tahoe, but only four of you did! Though, the other guesses have helped me add a ton of “to visit” places to my list. So, the winners of the Sweet Vegan E-Cookbook Collection are:

Congratulations ladies! For everyone else, you can pick up any of Hannah’s E-Cookbooks for just $5 a piece via her popular website, Bittersweet. Trust me, you will want the delicious crustless vegan pie recipes from Mission: Impossible Pies for the upcoming holiday season.

I typically stick to food alone on this blog, but thought it would be fun to share a few blips from my birthday and our first few days back in Lake Tahoe. It just so happened that Squaw Valley threw an Oktoberfest celebration in honor of my birthday (just humor me, okay?) …

But what made the event even more special was that one of my good friends announced that she was engaged. That photo I showed you, from the top of Diamond Peak ski resort, was where her boyfriend (now fiance) proposed to her that very morning on a hike. Lets just say I have never seen anyone so excited about an engagement, ever (anyone who happened to be at the event at Squaw surely heard her yells of excitement at some point during the day!). She is an amazing person, and he is a chef (could she have chosen anymore wisely?), so needless to say I am beyond happy for her …

After the wonderful day of celebrations, I arrived home to find some sweet gifts. Chocolate Emporium sent me some of their truffles and Halloween chocolates to review for Go Dairy Free, but they surprised me with a special chocolate bar right on top of the package (how did they know?) …

And speaking of the sweetest vegan, Hannah sent me a huge batch of her wonderfully rich and decadent homemade (dairy-free) fudge (recipe in My Sweet Vegan I believe), and she spiked it with big chunks of crystalized ginger, since she knows what a big ginger fan I am …

Oh, and did I mention it snowed? Yes, it seems the past three years have been rather warm in North Lake Tahoe, but we show up in the beginning of October, and it snows … go figure …

If you are all about the food, stick around, I have hoards of recipes that just need to be typed up for viewing, cooking, and eating pleasure … more tomorrow!

Welcome home….I adore the Tahoe area. So close to Napa, Sonoma, SF as well as all the nature you could ever want in Tahoe. It’s too cold for me otherwise I have always told hubs that Id live in Nor Cal in a heartbeat!!!

Congrats to your friend! It definitely looks like you had an awesome birthday. I love the idea of crystallized ginger in brownies…Trader Joe’s dark chocolate covered ginger is one of my favorite things EVER to munch on.

Thanks so much, again! My friend was very excited to receive A la Mode, and I was overwhelmed by the slew of delicious-looking recipes in Lunchbox Bites and Impossible Pies! I can’t wait to start using them! Thanksgiving, baby!

I am violently behind on my commenting! Happy Belated Birthday! It looks like it was wonderful! And mmmm I’m definitely wanting some of Hannah’s fudge! Ginger is the best! (Especially when paired with chocolate!)